…nothing lasts forever; especially not empires.
The American dream: owning your own klansman robe
The American government: you have to rent the klansman robeFrom my understanding of it, the American Dream’s going just fine! The only problem is most people misunderstood that it was about all of them.
That’s not enitirely true. The American Dream was (and is) settler-colonialism. Early settlers were promised free land if they killed indigenous peoples living there already, which led to a mostly self-sufficient labor class that could use its self-farmed land as a means to support themselves while bargaining for higher wages. If you were a white man, this dream was attainable, period, even if it meant enslaving and genociding millions of people.
Then came the post-war period. The wartime economy was still fairly planned, and aimed at full employment. Further, the US was emerging as world hegemon and de-facto empire. Imperialism and social safety nets largely expanded due to needing to provide better metrics than the Soviet Union was providing again kept the white men of the US living in the American Dream.
Now that imperialism is decaying, and social safety nets have been gutted along with the fall of the USSR as the main rival power, even white men are starting to fall into genuine proletarianization at large. The US is still a settler-colony, but its one where finance capital has dictatorial control yet imperialism is waning, and where many industries have been hollowed out and shipped overseas because imperialism was more profitable. The US is working its way to its own demise.
Agreed, that was the “advertised” goal, and the overall shape things took once it was set into motion. But looking at things now, in retrospect, I genuinely believe that’s just what everyone was told to sell them on the idea, with the actual plan being very different for those who had access backstage, y’know?
I mean, it’s much easier to motivate people to uproot their lives (regardless of how abysmal their living conditions were at the time) by promising a Land of Opportunity For Everyone, instead of telling them “yeah, we’re a bunch of rich guys who want to get even richer, and we need cheap labour to get things started, then work for us, so that we may accumulate all of the wealth.”
My point is that, initially, labor-power wasn’t cheap. That’s why there were slaves and indentured servants, to make up for the fact that the commodity labor-power was pricier. That’s what’s so dangerous about settler-colonialism, it “works” for a far larger portion of society, which is why it has led to some of the most horrendous crimes of all time.
It’s only now that the system is starting to genuinely unravel, but the US Empire’s history as one of the most far-right and brutal countries ever is directly tied to its large settler-colonial class relations.
“That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
- George Carlin
This isn’t new either.
That guy was ridiculously correct about a frightening amount of things…
like many of the leftists saying the very same things. difference was that carlin was completely hopeless that things could change.
To be perfectly frank, I can relate… Not gonna give up trying, just that I’ve never had much use for optimism given how things have been going overall.
if you are still trying it means there some hope in you deep down
Nope… zero. It’s just what I feel is the right thing to do, regardless of results. And, on a more self-serving note, I will at least die with a clear conscience knowing that I did all I could do to follow and respect my principles, to be at least a quasi-decent human being.
Sharing is hard… mmmkay?
(but for real, I do my part. I just wish that everyone didn’t want so damned much. I have little and would give it all, and have. And do. Often.)
Oh, I’m not putting this on any individual citizen, I’m genuinely sorry if it came out that way!
Sharing is virtuous, and everyone should most certainly try to share more (within their means, of course!), but the game was rigged long before those who are alive now ever existed. Unfortunately, as long as the system itself doesn’t change, individual action can only achieve so much in terms of offering fair conditions and opportunities for everyone…
You are correct.
Many sticks; strong together.
Single stick is weak.
(Sorry to mash up ancient quotes with a quote from the Planet of The Apes remake & bastardize it, but for modern purposes this will suffice.)
Damned fine quote and personal reinterpretation, no apologies needed!:))
Thank you; kind fediversor. Your supportive words contribute to my energy for world betterment!
Sorry to sound like a bot or AI; them fuckers basically stole my style & those like me.
Again, no such issue, I’d actually have a bit more respect for LLMs were they this eloquent and pleasant!:)) Glad to have generated a crumb of something good!:D
PS ~ that bird is an immigrant.
Hopefully that fun detail won’t go unnoticed now.
(👁 ͜ʖ👁)
